Flaky Whole Wheat Biscuits

Good morning!
How was your weekend?
Mine was wonderful, thank you.
Since I do a lot more harvest celebrating than Halloween anyway, I think some pumpkin patch photos are in order. Nothing spooky here--just a lot of vibrant earthly beauty.

Bright and shiny sunflower mornings like this one are best celebrated with some good down-home-hearty breakfast cooking. Since I was a young girl sitting on a stool in my grandmother's California home, I've known that the best way to complement a morning is with biscuits. Janny (as I nicknamed my grandmother) used to let me sprinkle the counter with flour and cut morning biscuits into rounds with a small glass. When she stepped outside to feed her cat, I would look both ways and sneak a nibble of biscuit dough. I've always had a strange fetish with dough. Isn't it wonderful?

We made our biscuits with Bisquick back then, and up until a few days ago, I didn't think anything could beat them. Especially not a recipe with whole wheat flour. Well ladies (and gents?), I have stumbled upon a most glorious ingredient list for whole wheat biscuits. They are flaky. They are soft and crispy at the same time. They pair wonderfully with scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes. They are even tasty warmed up the next day.

Slather them with butter, drizzle them with honey, dollop them with jam...do whatever you do with biscuits. Just make sure to scarf them with a big glass of milk nearby.

Whole Wheat Biscuits
Inspired by a cozy kitchen
Yields 8 - 10 rounds of buttery goodness

I used a cup of Greek yogurt + a tablespoon of milk in place of the buttermilk, because it's what I had; it worked marvelously. The entire stick of butter may seem like a bit, but I think it's worth the perfect flaky inside and slightly crunchy outside. This dough isn't hard to handle, so it wasn't a problem keeping the butter really cold while kneading it. 

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons sugar (I used raw cane sugar)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces

1 cup buttermilk, cold (I used Greek yogurt + 1 T milk)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

In a large bowl whisk flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt. Cut in butter with two butter knives until, as Ina would say, the butter is the size of peas. Add buttermilk or yogurt to dry ingredients, stirring until dry ingredients are moistened (this is a great time to get your hands in there).

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly 4 to 5 times and shape into a ball. Roll or pat dough out to about 1-inch thickness. Cut with a biscuit cutter and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Combine the remaining scraps of dough together, roll and cut a few more biscuits and transfer to baking sheet. Stop here. Any extra dough you have discard, since it will probably yield tough biscuits.

Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes or until a light golden brown.

My favorite way to eat these biscuits is drizzled with honey. Because of all the butter in the actual biscuits, I don't think you need any extra.

Note: These biscuits freeze quite well. I layered them between wax paper in a tupperware. Put them in the oven frozen and bake them at 450 for 18 - 20 minutes.

Variation:
Right when the biscuits come out of the oven, sprinkle them with garlic powder and Italian seasoning for a garlic bread feel.